US corporation Northrop Grumman is terminating contracts with Russia and Ukraine and has entered into an agreement with startup Firefly Aerospace to develop a "completely domestic" version of the Antares launch vehicle, Alpha Centauri reports .

The current version of the rocket uses the first stage of the Ukrainian assembly, which is produced by the Yuzhnoye design bureau, and the Russian RD-181 rocket engine, manufactured by NPO Energomash. Difficulties arose with the supply of rocket components due to the war in Ukraine.

Northrop Grumman noted that at the moment the first stages for the future two launches have already been created and the company is considering alternative options in case of potential supply problems, but did not disclose details.

Antares is used to send the cargo spacecraft Cygnus with a cargo of up to 8 tons to the ISS. Northrop Grumman expects that the all-American Antares 330 will be able to start operating as early as the end of 2024.

While the necessary replacement nodes are being prepared for Antares, Northrop Grumman has entered into an agreement with SpaceX to deliver cargo to the ISS as part of the Cygnus project with Falcon 9 rockets.